During a visit to India, BlackBerry CEO John Chen reiterated the brand's commitment to the country. Chen is meeting with BlackBerry employees, partners, and government officials in India, where the vendor has signed two new partners for its enterprise and mobility solutions.
In an interview with Economic Times, Chen said:
India at one time was quite a big market for us. Over the years, things have changed. I am here to meet our people, partners, and the government. Also to see the market and come with a better idea and information about how we invest back into the market.
India is going to be a booming economy, especially the SME (small and medium enterprises) model, which is going to be big. All of the policies of the government are aimed at lifting people and providing more opportunities, which are mainly SME based.
Talking about the hardware business, Chen said that the focus on devices is at 30%. BlackBerry's goal in this segment is to become profitable:
It's not dead. Now, the most important thing for me is to make money from it. It is doable.
Chen also talked about the company's transformation into a services and security vendor, saying:
We passed danger. We have a strategy, and are now putting people and infrastructure together to execute the strategy. We picked 10 countries right now, including India, to go beyond main markets such as US, Canada, UK and Germany where we have always been in. It needs patience, but we are committed.
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